To most medical students, five years of medical education can be full of new experiences; gaining clinical skills such as using the stethoscope and other tools in the first year, for example, while building knowledge on human physiology and the body’s inner workings.
As they progress, those intent on becoming a surgeon may discover even more, that some experiences can be second to none. Surgical gloves taut against the hand, the feel of a human heart pounding in the palm can be mesmerizing. It is not for nothing that the operating ‘theatre’ is so called.
But from the highs of technology, down to realizing the limits of medicine, nothing quite parallels the ultimate goal of a medical education: the humbling experience of patient care.
MSU International Medical School (IMS), through its specialized teaching hospital MSU Medical Centre (MSUMC) and the work of MSU Foundation, recently received a case study that called for inter-professional education and practice.
The patient had undergone three courses of chemotherapy totaling eighteen cycles by early last year. Attacked by adenocystic carcinoma of the left maxilla, his left eye, left lips, entire nose and sinuses have been invaded by the third most malignant tumour of the salivary glands. By the time he arrived at MSUMC, he was severely anaemic and in need of nutrition. Not only had he lost his job, he had also lost vision in his left eye and use of his mouth; it had been obliterated by the fungating tumour, which was chronically bleeding.
The primary treatment is surgical removal yet it can prove challenging as the rare-type cancer tends to progress along the nerve tracts. Arresting growth of the tumour is hoped to bring better quality of life to the patient, with palliative surgery planning to salvage the patient’s right eye. A bilateral neck dissection will be performed, followed by reconstruction and radiotherapy, in a multi-disciplinary collaboration led by MSUMC’s own Neurosurgeon, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon, and Interventional Radiologist. They will be joined by Kuala Lumpur Hospital Head of Oncology, Toronto University Head of Oncology, and an Ophthalmology/Occuloplastic surgeon from Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
From bed-bound, the critically ill patient is now able to sit, stand, and walk with assistance. Though the cancer has spread to his lungs and liver, without surgical intervention the radiation-resistant tumour would keep on growing and take him towards an unimagined end.
As with any medical case of such proportions, the financial implications can be similarly devastating. The patient’s employment had been terminated when he was certified unfit to work. His SOCSO allowance is only supplemented by the primary-school-teacher earnings of his wife, who must now assume the breadwinner role for their family of four. Fortunately for him, the burden of care is lessened by the combined efforts of MSUMC and MSU Foundation.
MSU Medical Centre (MSUMC) is a specialized private hospital open to all. Located adjacent to the main campus of Management and Science University (MSU) in Shah Alam Section 13, MSUMC provides medical and healthcare services to the general public, as well as housemanship opportunities to MSU International Medical School (IMS) graduates of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS).
MSU International Medical School (IMS) forms one third of the MSU Medical and Health Sciences Cluster; two others are MSU School of Pharmacy (SPH) and MSU Faculty of Health and Life Sciences (FHLS).
To most medical students, five years of medical education can be full of new experiences; gaining clinical skills such as using the stethoscope and other tools in the first year, for example, while building knowledge on human physiology and the body’s inner workings.
As they progress, those intent on becoming a surgeon may discover even more, that some experiences can be second to none. Surgical gloves taut against the hand, the feel of a human heart pounding in the palm can be mesmerizing. It is not for nothing that the operating ‘theatre’ is so called.
But from the highs of technology, down to realizing the limits of medicine, nothing quite parallels the ultimate goal of a medical education: the humbling experience of patient care.
MSU International Medical School (IMS), through its specialized teaching hospital MSU Medical Centre (MSUMC) and the work of MSU Foundation, recently received a case study that called for inter-professional education and practice.
The patient had undergone three courses of chemotherapy totaling eighteen cycles by early last year. Attacked by adenocystic carcinoma of the left maxilla, his left eye, left lips, entire nose and sinuses have been invaded by the third most malignant tumour of the salivary glands. By the time he arrived at MSUMC, he was severely anaemic and in need of nutrition. Not only had he lost his job, he had also lost vision in his left eye and use of his mouth; it had been obliterated by the fungating tumour, which was chronically bleeding.
The primary treatment is surgical removal yet it can prove challenging as the rare-type cancer tends to progress along the nerve tracts. Arresting growth of the tumour is hoped to bring better quality of life to the patient, with palliative surgery planning to salvage the patient’s right eye. A bilateral neck dissection will be performed, followed by reconstruction and radiotherapy, in a multi-disciplinary collaboration led by MSUMC’s own Neurosurgeon, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon, and Interventional Radiologist. They will be joined by Kuala Lumpur Hospital Head of Oncology, Toronto University Head of Oncology, and an Ophthalmology/Occuloplastic surgeon from Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
From bed-bound, the critically ill patient is now able to sit, stand, and walk with assistance. Though the cancer has spread to his lungs and liver, without surgical intervention the radiation-resistant tumour would keep on growing and take him towards an unimagined end.
As with any medical case of such proportions, the financial implications can be similarly devastating. The patient’s employment had been terminated when he was certified unfit to work. His SOCSO allowance is only supplemented by the primary-school-teacher earnings of his wife, who must now assume the breadwinner role for their family of four. Fortunately for him, the burden of care is lessened by the combined efforts of MSUMC and MSU Foundation.
MSU Medical Centre (MSUMC) is a specialized private hospital open to all. Located adjacent to the main campus of Management and Science University (MSU) in Shah Alam Section 13, MSUMC provides medical and healthcare services to the general public, as well as housemanship opportunities to MSU International Medical School (IMS) graduates of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS).
MSU International Medical School (IMS) forms one third of the MSU Medical and Health Sciences Cluster; two others are MSU School of Pharmacy (SPH) and MSU Faculty of Health and Life Sciences (FHLS).